Pediatricians Recommend Kids Get BMI Test By Age 2

Posted May 10, 2011

Junk food and a lack of physical activity contribute to childhood obesity.

Some pediatricians say children should get their body mass index screened as early as age two to help fight childhood obesity. Dr. Carl Sather with the Indiana University School of Medicine says the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting screening at age two but some pediatricians start at age six. Sather says age two is when it should start.

Sather works will kids age 2-21, but says kids age 2-5 respond the best to early treatments of obesity.

“We aren’t using surgery of medicine,” he says, “but we work with significant behavior change techniques so patients and their families and caregivers can address the disease and the illness of obesity.”

He says some ways to help fight childhood obesity and maintain a health BMI are simple: having adequate play time, reducing the amount of time spent in front of a TV or computer, avoiding sugary juices and eating as a family.

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